Welcome to the School of Public Health – London.
Whether you are considering a career in public health, planning to apply for public health training in London, or are an existing London registrar or supervisor, we hope you will find the information on our webpages useful.
We provide general information about training in London but also point you towards other resources that you will find useful.
Generic training-related guidelines and resources can be found on the NHS England – London support portal Support : PGMDE Support Portal (hee.nhs.uk).
More information about Public Health is available from Faculty of Public Health, the professional body for public health consultants - About FPH - Faculty of Public Health
Rachel Wells, Head of School
Rachel became Head of School in Autumn 2018 after several years as a TPD and an ES prior to that. Her interest in education has meant that she has been focussed on developing the School, bringing the team together and bringing innovation into London. Rachel has a keen interest in ensuring that Registrar training is delivered at the highest standards, whilst maintaining the greatest opportunities for London registrars. The involvement of registrars in decision making, engagement and challenge is an area Rachel has prioritised . She has been a long-term advocate of developing the wider public health workforce and has brought together a team to support the School to do this.
Rachel also works as a Consultant in Public Health in Barnet, North London where she leads the Neighbourhoods, Communities and Mental health team, this includes a focus on suicide prevention, community development, PCN neighbourhood public health and asylum seeker health. Rachel has worked across local, regional and national government and the NHS leading in a range of roles and has held a wide variety of portfolios during a 30-year career. Despite this she is still fascinated and excited at the opportunities that a public health career brings.
Rachel is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health (FFPH) and registered with the UKPHR as Generalist Specialist and sits on the FPH Poverty SIG.
Julie George, Training Programme Director, FFPH PhD FHEA
Julie George took up the role of TPD in July 2020, at the same time she became Deputy Director of Public Health at Barnet. She worked as an educational supervisor for many years as part of her Consultant role at Surrey County Council. Since 2010, Julie has been associated with the Institute of Health Informatics at UCL, completing her NIHR Doctoral Fellowship in 2013 and subsequently securing an NIHR Postdoctoral Clinical Fellowship in 2017. Since October 2022, Julie has stepped back from full-time service Public Health to concentrate on her TPD role and academic research. Julie is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health (FFPH) and registered with the UKPHR as Generalist Specialist.
Julie is the academic TPD for the School of Public Health. She also has responsibility for a cohort of about 40 registrars, and Educational Supervisor development. She is also the link TPD for all UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) placements, the academic institutions, thinktanks and voluntary agencies, and training locations in North West and North Central London.
Jane Leaman, Training Programme Director
Jane is a UKPHR-registered Public Health Specialist with over 25 years’ Department of Health, NHS, and local government experience whose career has evolved from nursing through specialist health promotion roles to being the Director of Public Health for both Swindon PCT and Newham Borough Council and a Consultant in Public Health in the fields of Health & Justice, violence reduction, and as part of the London Mayor’s COVID response and recovery team. She was until recently a Consultant in Public Health in London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. As a public health specialist, Jane has led public health programmes and co-author of papers in specialist fields such as health inequality, violence reduction, and mental health and health and social care in prisons. Jane is currently also an independent Monitoring Board (IMB) member of two prisons – a therapeutic prison and an open prison.
Jane is one of the Training Programme Director in the School of Public Health (London) where she very much enjoys working with a wide range of SpRs at different stages of training and with different experiences past and present; as well as working with Educational Supervisors to support high quality placements and the school to provide a high quality training experience. Jane leads on Supported Return to Training (SRTT) and Trainees in Difficulty for the School of Public Health. She is also the link TPD for local authorities in North East London, the GLA, NICE, OHOD-UKSHA Global, FCDO, and NHS England. Jane also leads on the ARCP process for the School.
Livia Royle, Training Programme Director
Livia joined the public health community 25 years ago. Since qualifying as a public health specialist in 2005, she undertook a number of public health consultant and director positions across London and the South East of England. Public health training and educational has always been Livia’s passion and she has supervised public health and GP registrars for many many years. Livia trained with GP educators and completed her PG Certificate for Teaching in Primary Care in 2013. Livia is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health (FFPH) and registered with the UKPHR as Generalist Specialist.
Livia joined the London Public Health Training Programme as TPD in 2022. She enjoys working as part of a team alongside the Postgraduate Dean, the Head of School and her TPD colleagues. Livia views having the opportunity to support, enable and empower 50 registrars each year in order to discover their full potential and successfully navigate their journey of learning is the best role she could wish for. Livia leads on KA10 panels for the School. She is also the link TPD for local authorities in South London, the Department of Health and Social Care including OHID and the CMO’s office.
Vision for the School of Public Health
Developing the Public Health Workforce in London involves a creating a School of Public Health that supports our speciality registrars with exciting learning opportunities in accredited and well run placements with high quality educational supervision. Engagement in decision making and challenge to the School are vital to us, and providing as many opportunities as possible for registrars is important.
At the same time, we are acutely aware that there are a wide range of public health professionals in London who also need support to develop their skills and knowledge to gain recognition of their experience, whether this is through portfolio development or seeking accreditation. As such we are supporting colleagues completing their Specialist Portfolio, we have a strong Public Health Practitioner Scheme and we are working with OHID to support public health apprenticeships. Our team is exploring ways to work with London trusts and ICBs to support the development of funded public health skill and knowledge schemes of work.
Additionally, we are working across specialities with an innovative programme of work with the School of Psychiatry which enables registrars from both specialities to engage in shared work to meet learning outcomes and develop projects.
We also have developed an interactive online seminar series on a public health toolkit for Paediatricians to link up to public health and engage in using these skills. These have been run several times and are always oversubscribed.
At present we are leading the development of a new Dual Training programme in Public health and General Practice. The establishment of a new training programme from its beginning is an exciting and innovative experience for all concerned.
Transforming the School of Public Health into a strong and supported speciality in London, bringing innovation to the school and building on experiences, projects and interactions with other specialities is part of creating the vision of School of Public Health for London which supports the whole of the public health workforce. It is not possible without our partners, supervisors and senior decision makers and I thank them for the vision that they bring and the support they offer.
Rachel Wells, Head of School
The London School of Public Health offers a range of exciting opportunities which you might expect with the capital. These include access to suburban, urban, and inner-city areas with local government, with diversity, inequalities, and high-profile public health at their centre. London has 33 boroughs, many of which are open as training locations. These vary greatly and include some of the most deprived wards in the country, alongside some of the least deprived.
In addition, we offer experiences at the very centre of national government, regional government, world-renowned research and academic departments, specialist UK Health Security Agency teams, national think-tanks, and health protection teams, including the team that covers Heathrow Airport.
At any one time, the School has over 130 registrars. They will be on placements at our many training locations, completing an MSc in Public Health to support exam success, or out of programme temporarily pursuing other interests or completing a PhD.
When registrars start on the training programme in London, they are placed with one of the London local authorities. After completing a year in local authority, they usually go on to undertake a MSc in public health and then complete health protection training at one of UKHSA health protection teams. After completing their professional exams (diplomate and membership), they can go onto to more specialist placements.
Specialist placements include:
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National government departments like the office of Chief Medical Officers or the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO)
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National and regional teams with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
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National and regional teams with UKHSA
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Local Health Protection teams including North West London which covers Heathrow
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National Institute of Health and Care Excellence
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Global health placements like Medicin Sans Frontier
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Thinktanks, including the Health Foundation and the Nuffield Trust
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The Greater London Authority
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NHS England teams, including the Screening and Immunisation Teams and specialised commissioning
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Universities like London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UCL, Imperial College, and Queen Mary University London
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Acute and community trusts like the Royal Free, Barts and the London, Chelsea and Westminster and East London Foundation Trust
Further details on each placement are available in the forthcoming placement guide.
The availability of specific placements will depend adequate educational supervision at the time a registrar wants to go there, so not all placements are available at all the time. Places at a number of training locations are awarded on a competitive basis, usually held on an annual basis.
London registrars can also potentially access placements outside of London which are advertised through the Faculty of Public Health as part of the nationally available training locations. Conversely registrars from outside London may be placed in London locations, through the same process. https://www.fph.org.uk/training-careers/specialty-training/training-placements/nationally-available-training-placements/
To meet the Code of Practice, all registrars should have a training location agreed 16 weeks before they are due to start. Any change in placement must be agreed with the registrar’s TPD as suitable to meet outstanding learning outcomes and right for the registrar at that point in time.
Recruitment
Public Health is unusual for a medical training programme because both those with a medical background or a background other than medicine (BOTM) can apply. Different criteria apply depending on whether the applicants is medical or BOTM.
Recruitment for public health registrars is run through a national competition run every November. Further information on the criteria and process is available on the NHS England website.
https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/public-health
Additional information is available on the Faculty of Public Health website
https://www.fph.org.uk/training-careers/national-public-health-specialty-training-recruitment/
The application process is highly competitive. Successful candidates are offered their choice of training location in order of their score in the selection process.
If you want to find out more about the training programme from London registrars, they hold taster sessions. Information on the next session is available from lkssphmx@gmail.com. If you are interested in applying for the training scheme, please review the materials available on-line or attend a taster session before approaching any of the TPDs since we may not be able to answer questions in a timely manner.
Public Health Careers
There are a wide variety of roles in public health including the Consultant in Public Health. Further information on the range of roles, what you might expect from the role, what you could earn and testimonials from those doing the roles are available at https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/public-health
Additional information is available on the Faculty of Public Health website https://www.fph.org.uk/training-careers/
Introductory evening seminar for prospective registrars
Current public health registrars run an introductory evening seminar for those interested in finding out more about specialist public health training in London.
Information is provided about the training scheme structure and approach, as well as the application process. The aim of the seminars is to enable potential applicants to make an informed decision about applying for Public Health training in London.
The next introductory evening will be held online on Monday 20th May 2024 at 6-8pm.
If you would like to attend the evening, please complete the following form: https://forms.gle/DMxAJDZBMxtgiPJx7
For further information related to the introductory evening, please email lkssphmx@gmail.com. Please note that any questions regarding recruitment and the selection process should be addressed to england.publichealthrecruitment.em@nhs.net.
We have a Head of School (HoS) who works with an experienced team of Training Programme Directors who cover the School’s geography. Registrars are allocated to a TPD at the start of their training, who will remain their TPD throughout training where possible. Each TPD has key workstreams to support and training locations to support. The Head of School reports to the Postgraduate Dean for Public Health.
The HoS and TPDs meet regularly with a committee of registrar representatives to discuss issues related to the training experience and to undertake joint improvement projects.
Key decisions are brought to the School Board which meets 3 times a year. Membership of the School Board include the Postgraduate Dean responsible for Public Health, the HoS, the TPDs, registrar representatives, representatives from the NHS England quality, finance and health education teams working with public health, the lead employer (Royal Free Foundation Trust), and wider public health workforce lead.
An essential element of the role of the School is to ensure that good quality training is provided for those on the programme and in developing public health training more broadly. Part of the role of the School involves working with a range of placement partners including new training environments to develop public health training that is fit for the future.
Each placement has an Educational Supervisor who is accredited by the School to ensure that quality support is available, and all ES are invited to attend meetings for updates and continuing professional development (CPD) on educational and supervision support.
Facilitated by the Faculty of Public Health, the HoS and TPDs also meet with their counterparts in other regions to share good practice and discuss developments in training policy.
The public health speciality training curriculum provides the framework of knowledge, skills, behaviours and attitudes which registrars will acquire through the training programme to enable them to work at consultant level in public health. The curriculum is developed by the Faculty of Public Health and approved by the General Medical Council. Further information on the curriculum including the 2022 curriculum is available on the FPH website. https://www.fph.org.uk/training-careers/specialty-training/curriculum/
The acquisition of competencies as laid out in the curriculum are assessed annually for all registrars at the Annual Review of Competency Progression (ARCP), normally held during May for most registrars. See the section on ARCPs for further information on this.
The Public Health speciality training scheme also allows for a formal formative assessment just before the final year of training called a KA10 panel. See the section on KA10 Panels for further information the way in which we manage our KA10 panels.
Registrars are required to pass two professional exams as part of their training. These should be completed before moving onto specialist placements. General information on the two exams can be found at FPH exams
The first, the Diplomate exam, is designed to test individual’s knowledge of public health. The syllabus of knowledge that individuals are expected to master is published on the FPH website (DFPH syllabus). The Diplomate exam is run on-line twice a year in October and March. More detailed information on other elements of the diplomate exam, including how to apply to sit the exam, can be found at DFPH
The second exam, the Membership exam, is designed to test an individual’s ability “to apply relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes to the practice of public health”. This is an in-person exam, held four times a year, usually in February, May, September, and November. The exam is held either in London or Liverpool. The format used is an Objective Structured Public Health Exam (OSPHE), which consists of a series of stations where individual skills are tested. More detailed information on other elements of the membership exam, including how to apply to sit the exam, can be found at MFPH
The London registrars organise a series of up to 10 full-day training days about topics of interest in public health, assisted by the Health Education Team. Registrars are expected to attend; project and educational supervisors are welcome to attend. All meetings are now held face to face, with some availability to attend via teams.
See below for the schedule for 2023-24, including links to register for the day. Previous years schedules are available below as attachments.
Please contact the Health Education Team via the PGMDE Support Portal for any queries about the RTD programme.
[HET team to insert programme here with links to register for each event. See exemplar on the intensive care section of the website - Intensive Care Medicine | London (hee.nhs.uk))
The Annual Review of Competency Progression (ARCP) is a mandatory step before any Public Health Specialty Registrar progresses to the next year. It involves the presentation of various forms of written evidence, gathered during the whole year, presented in the e-portfolio. The Gold Guide has details on the ARCP process that should be followed.
Different requirements are required dependent on type of training placement or if the registrar is out of programme. For more information on ARCPs during OOP or parental leave please see:
I am on an OOP, do I still need to have an ARCP? : PGMDE Support Portal (hee.nhs.uk).
Will I have an ARCP whilst on parental leave? : PGMDE Support Portal (hee.nhs.uk)
ARCPs for the majority of PH registrars are held annually in May. The FPH requires the final ARCP to be held no more than 3 months before CCT so ARCP panels are held throughout the year for registrars who are completing training or who require an ARCP for other reasons. All Public Health ARCPs are held in absentia.
Registrars are notified at least 6 week in advance of the ARCP date, with information on the required documentation all of which should be uploaded onto the FPH e-portfolio. Every ARCP requires submission of a completed Form R which is part of the revalidation process for registrars.
The ARCP panels are chaired by the TPDs assisted by 2 or more Educational Supervisors, with a lay observer to ensure equity of process. ARCP outcomes are issued based on the evidence provided. If the evidence is incomplete, an outcome 5 is issued, to which the registrar must respond within 10 days from notification.
Further information, FAQs and a full list of documents is available within the Public Health ARCP Resource Library
KA10 panels
KA10s panels are offered to registrars on the London PH training programme 10-12 months before the end of their training. All registrars are contacted by the HET team annually via email and invited to register for a forthcoming KA10 panel. In London, the KA10 panels chaired by the TPDs supported by ESs are held every other month. Participation in KA10 panels are optional, but registrars who have participated have found them helpful.
What are KA10 panels?
The 2015 PH curriculum introduced an entirely new Key Area 10: Integration and Application of Competences for Consultant Practice, which was refined in the 2022 Curriculum. This key area focuses on the ability to integrate and apply public health competences for consultant practice. Assessment of full achievement is expected during the final year of training.
To support Registrars and their Educational Supervisors to develop and demonstrate these learning outcomes, an additional formative assessment of this Key Area was developed to ensure that registrars are ready to perform at consultant level on completion of training. The timing of this formative assessment allows for additional training needs to be picked up and addressed as required before the end of training.
The Faculty of Public Health KA10 guidance will be revised in 2024.
Further information is available on the FPH website, ka10-assessment-guidance-version-14.pdf (fph.org.uk)
Every year, the registrars organise a regional conference to showcase work by registrars and cover topics of interest to members of the School of Public Health in London. Further information will be available soon.
NIHR Integrated Academic Training
The partnership between a number of London universities and the School of Public Health has a strong record of attracting Academic Clinical Fellows (ACFs) and Clinical Fellows (CL) funding, ensuring that ACFs/ACL complete their service training, secure academic funding and go on to academic careers. On average, there are 3-4 ACFs advertised every year, with CLs available less frequently. ACFs/CLs have been or will be based at the following prestigious London universities:
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Imperial College London
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King’s College London
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London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
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Queen Mary University London (QMUL)
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St George’s, University of London
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University College London (UCL)
Registrars applying for an ACF must have a medical background. Recruitment for ACFs is usually in October/November each year, with CLs recruitment at different points throughout the year. If an individual is successful in securing an ACF but is not currently a Public Health registrar, they must also apply to the public health speciality training programme.
Further information is available on the London Integrated Academic Training website Integrated Academic Training | London (hee.nhs.uk).
Julie George is the academic Training Programme Director for Public Health in London.
Academic Placements
Universities listed below are able to take registrars on academic placements to address Key Area 8 and other learning outcomes. For further information on potential academic placements, contact the lead Educational Supervisor in each institution as early as possible.
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Imperial College: Richard Pinder - richard.pinder@imperial.ac.uk
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LSHTM: Greg Hartwell - Gregory.Hartwell@lshtm.ac.uk
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QMUL: Oyinlola Oyebode - o.oyebode@qmul.ac.uk
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UCL: Nigel Field - nigel.field@ucl.ac.uk
Local Authority Public Health Research Network
A number of partners across London have developed the Local Authority Public Health Research Network (LAPHRN) which seeks to develop academic research in local authority settings. Further information is available from https://www.arc-nt.nihr.ac.uk/get-involved/laphrn/
This section of the website will be available soon.
There are several initiatives available to Public Health registrars to train more flexibly. These include part time training, known as Less Than Full Time (LTFT) training, as well as the opportunity to take time out of programme to address personal situations or advance career development.
Public Health registrars have regularly taken OOP to take up places on the Field Epidemiology Fellowship Programme, the Medical Director’s Fellowships, London Darzi Fellowships and other prestigious awards. Please be aware that going on OOP could jeopardize your continuity of service.
For more information about Less Than Full Time Training, see Less Than Full Time : PGMDE Support Portal (hee.nhs.uk)
For more information on Out of Programme policies, including the different kinds of OOP available and application form, see Out of Programme / Acting Up : PGMDE Support Portal (hee.nhs.uk)
After reviewing the FAQs, please discuss any plans for flexible training you may have with your TPD before applying.
This section of the website will be available soon.
This section of the website will be available soon.
All Public Health trainees within London are employed by Royal Free Hospitals Group. All employment related enquiries (such as contracts, HR) should be made to them: rf.leademployerservice@nhs.net
This section of the website will be available soon.
This section of the website will be available soon.